Hot Mama by Jennifer Estep
Settling down to read Hot Mama was like settling down to have a piece of book candy. (I didn’t originate this term; I discovered it on Jennifer Estep’s Blog.) You know it is going to be a fast read with lively, snappy dialog and laugh-out-loud humor. And Hot Mama did not disappoint!
It begins with Carmen Cole’s wedding to Sam Sloane, the uberdude in Karma Girl. Carmen is happy; her dreams have come true. Therefore, this book is not about her. It’s about Fiera (AKA Fiona Fine), Carmen’s flame-wielding Fearless Five partner in crimefighting. Fiera is not so happy, for she still misses her murdered sweetheart from the last novel. Johnny Bulluci, this novel’s uberhunk, is a direct sort of guy. When he sees something that he wants, he goes for it. And he wants Fiona Fine.
Complicating matters are two ubervillians and a rather ambiguous character named Johnny Angel, who is after revenge for the murder of his father, the previous Johnny Angel. (I found the whole idea of generational superheroes quite original.) The Fearless Five are out to stop a criminal duo, and the only thing standing in their way is Johnny Angel, who doesn’t merely want them stopped; he wants them dead.
Fiona doesn’t tug on the heartstrings quite as well as Carmen did. Carmen was so very lovable with her cutesy tee-shirts and scruffy jeans. Fiona is a snappily-dressed opposite. However, her story is sad and she is lonely, so she engages the reader in a very different way. One thing that got a chuckle from me was the amount of food that Fiona has to eat to keep up her fiery metabolism. You can almost read Jennifer Estep’s wishful thinking: If only we could eat like this all the time and stay skinny…
Lulu Lo, the genius paraplegic, plays a much greater role in Hot Mama. The romance between her and Henry is an important subplot and she is involved in all the battles, mostly in a support role.
Also appealing is Bella Bulluci who is the subject of the next book, Jinx.
It’s probably not necessary to read Karma Girl in order to enjoy Hot Mama. Estep makes this book self-contained. The events in Karma Girl contain necessary backstory, but Estep was quite generous in giving you what you need as the story goes along.
I think it is very safe to say that if you enjoyed Karma Girl, you will enjoy Hot Mama as well, and you will probably look forward to Jinx.
FanLit thanks Tia Nevitt from Debuts & Reviews for contributing this guest review.
Bigtime — (2007-2015) Paranormal romance. Publisher: Someone has to pay for what happened to Carmen Cole… Bigtime, New York is not big enough for both Carmen Cole and the superheroes and ubervillains who walk its streets. An intrepid reporter, Carmen’s dedicated her life to unmasking the spandex wearers, all because her fiancé turned out to be a superhero, and a cheating one at that — sleeping with none other than his nubile nemesis. Exposing the true identities of the nation’s caped crusaders and their archenemies has catapulted Carmen from her sleep southern hometown to the front pages of one of the country’s biggest newspapers, The Exposé. Hobnobbing with modelizing millionaires and famished fashionistas is all in a day’s work for the woman hot on the trail of the Fearless Five and Terrible Triad. But when Carmen gets the scoop of her career, her life comes crashing down around her. And even Bigtime’s sexiest superhero, Striker, may not be able to save her …
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